


2014 Zukaang Week

by PriestessOfNox



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:46:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2763575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PriestessOfNox/pseuds/PriestessOfNox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko/Aang using the themes DayBreak, Skin, Honor, Forgiveness, Change, Heat and Hope. The first chapter using all of the themes is a stand alone story. Daybreak, Skin, Heat and Hope will have one connecting AU storyline. Honor, Forgiveness and Change will connect in another AU storyline. See the zukaang tag on tumblr for more submissions for the celebration: Dec 14-20, 2014.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All Themes

All Themes

The hundred year war had been over for three years now, Zuko the Fire Lord for just as long, and he still rose with the sun. He had learned quickly that his position had much to do if he wanted things done properly and after the reign of the last three Fire Lords everything had to be done just right to fulfill the promise of his coronation speech.

Unlike Azula, Zuko still preferred to dress himself but there were occasions that someone else did his hair for him. Really there was only one person Zuko allowed to do this; someone whom also rose early from years of rising at dawn to gather for meditation and training at the temple, a habit that stayed with him in his travels and through the years.

That someone was currently staying at the palace with him and had taken on the habit of pouting if Zuko did his hair before Aang finished his morning meditations and came to do it for him. The time since Aang came to stay at the palace had been less than a month but Zuko had already gotten used to the feeling of the airbender's fingers running through his hair to gather it up for the top knot, usually preferring to do that than use a comb.

Though Zuko was enjoying having Aang with him, he felt a certain level of guilt at the pleasure, for the reasoning Aang was there had not been a pleasant thing for his friend. Shortly before Aand's arrival in the Fire Nation Aang's three year relationship with Katara had come to an end. According to Aang it had been a mutual decision, that they still loved each other, but had realized it hadn't been in a romantic way like they thought.

The announcement of Aang becoming available again did nothing but make Zuko feel all the guiltier for the news had made him rather happy. It wasn't as though Zuko thought Katara wasn't good enough for Aang or hated her in the least, Zuko still considered Katara one of his dearest friends, but that friendship had been fuel to his guilt and did nothing to tame the green eyed monster he had living inside of him for all these years.

There was no way of knowing how or when or even why but at some point Zuko had fallen in love with Aang. He had hidden it, particularly from himself, until he had introduced Aang to his mother, happy that two of the most important people in his life were finally meeting, even though he couldn't say they were all together since his uncle Iroh was not there that day.

Still the thought had baffled Zuko and when he looked at Aang again, he saw the Avatar in a whole new light. Aang had not been a prize to be captured to regain his honor for a long time but he no longer saw simply his student and friend anymore; it had changed to something entirely different. What Zuko saw he couldn't even think of words to try and describe it but it had taken his breath away; and he immediately tried to lock those feeling deep down inside of him.

At the time Aang had only been twelve years old, dating a common friend, was, and still is, a boy. Even if Zuko could ignore the age difference and had tried to separate them, which he never could even imagine attempting since they were both his friends and happy together, he could not look past Aang's gender. With their positions in the world, they were both expected to marry and have children. Both of them needed to have children, especially with Aang being the last of his people and having to pass down the line of air bending to save his culture and to keep the Avatar chain of reincarnation breaking many years from now.

This had made it easy for Zuko keep the feelings at bay, to ignore the longing and just be friends with Aang. He had even been able to become friends with Mai again, even though his feelings for her had changed and the courtship they shared a pleasant memory. His friendship with her had even helped keep unwanted would-be-brides at bay for many people thought they would get back together.

Yet the moment the Zuko knew that Aang was available, that Aang had come to him after his break up, poisonous hope bubbled up inside of him, cracking open the feelings he had tried for so long to ignore. Every time Aang touched him, leaving Zuko's skin heated for hours later without the use of firebending, or smiled at him, leaving him with an adrenaline that could not be spent sitting at meetings especially when he could not stop thinking of them, became Zuko's guilty pleasures, wanting more and dreading when Aang would leave to continue his duty as the Avatar and leave Zuko's hope properly crushed.

There was no telling Aang his feelings. There was nothing they do about them even if Aang felt the same. As Zuko had thought many times before they both needed to continue their lines, to honor their people and their nations and they could not do that together.

"What are you thinking about?" Aang voice reached Zuko just as his fingertips brushed along Zuko's cheek and ear, leaving a trail of heat wherever he touched, starting to gather up Zuko's hair as he stood behind the seated Fire Lord, as he had been sitting at his vanity as he waited.

Using the mirror's reflection, Zuko gazed at Aang. The now fifteen year old Avatar had come to his room shirtless again, flaunting what Zuko could not have and hoped the spirits would forgive him for wanting. Aang's skin, adorned by the comfortingly familiar blue arrows, stood within reach, undoubtedly soft and warm and something Zuko could get addicted to if given the chance. The Avatar had also grown taller, more than likely he would surpass Zuko soon enough, and stronger but still kept his lithe form for speed and agility over strength.

The gentle smile on Aang's face, so content at simply doing Zuko's hair for him, almost made Zuko forget that Aang had asked him a question; one he hadn't answered yet. Over the years of denying his feelings he had learned partial truths worked best, especially whenever Toph was around.

"You and Katara," Zuko thought that answer would be plausible enough.

"What about it?" Aang questioned further, losing hold of some of Zuko's hair and having to start over, distracting Zuko all over again.

"I guess I'm still a bit surprised by it," Zuko gathered his thoughts after a moment. "You two seemed happy together."

"We were," Aang said, "It wasn't a bad relationship by any means and as I said before we still love each other it just wasn't the love we thought it was. When we were discussing it Katara had suggested that maybe if neither of us found someone to have a family with down the line we could still get married and have that family together but we both deserved a chance to find someone we were truly in love with."

"You would marry her, even if you didn't love her that way?" Zuko asked, surprised.

"The monks never married," Aang started as he started to form the top knot in Zuko's hair. "They fell in love and had partnerships, sometimes with multiple people, obviously, or there never would have been any children, but marriage in general is a foreign concept to me. Still I know there are multiple agrees of love and you can love several people and it won't change due to a contract but marriage is important to Katara's culture and if we were to have children together I would do what would make her most comfortable."

Zuko drank up the information greedily, thinking it over as Aang finished doing his hair. When he finally spoke he spoke to Aang via his reflection, unable to look directly into his real face, "So you could, in theory, be married to Katara and have a family with her but still have a separate relationship with someone else; even if that person was married to have a family?"

"If Katara was fine with it yes," Aang spoke to Zuko's reflection in return. "And whoever this other person was married to; I wouldn't sneak around behind anyone's back."

"But if everyone was okay with it, would you?" Zuko could barely look into the reflection of Aang's eyes anymore; he didn't want to reveal his anxious hope which wanted to lash out of him and latch onto Aang with a desperation Zuko hadn't felt since his banishment.

"If everyone was okay with it, then yes," Aang's reflection nodded.

Zuko would never forgive his hope if it had lead him astray in this moment, making him turn and look into Aang's real face, look into his real eyes and ask, "Could the other person be another man?"

If the question took Aang by surprise, he didn't show it. Instead he rested his hand on the vanity and leaned in, hovering just above Zuko who could feel the heat of Aang's breath against his skin.

"It depends," Aang returned Zuko's gaze, "Is the other man you?"

Not trusting his voice, Zuko nodded.

"Then yes, it could," Aang's voice had gone softer, Zuko swore he could hear a hope echoing his own, "If you wanted it to be you."

Part of Zuko wanted to yell at Aang, why would he ask if he didn't want it to be him while the other part wanted to pull Aang down, into his lap if possible, hold him there and kiss him until the Avatar had no thoughts of escaping him.

Luckily it was the other part that won out and Zuko found that Aang fit quite nicely onto his lap and his own touch could cause Aang's skin to heat up and change to a lovely shade of red.


	2. Daybreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern Day AU

Daybreak was aptly named because it damn near broke Zuko to rise so early, especially on a Saturday when he could have been sleeping in. Still there were things to do to get his uncle's tea shop open in time for the early birds. Then there was the thing that Zuko actually liked about getting up in the morning.

Around the time Zuko swept out the entrance of the tea shop a boy would run by across the street. It didn't matter what the weather was the boy would run by, usually wearing some combination of yellow and orange jogging clothes, a beanie with a blue arrow on it and giant headphones as he listened to music. The boy had yet to miss a Saturday since Zuko started to help out at his uncle's teashop and had been running by each Saturday for a while according to his uncle.

Even with the bright colors Zuko probably wouldn't have noticed him if it hadn't been the fact that the boy sang while he ran, very loudly and even when he didn't know all of the words. The first time it was "Walking on Sunshine", Zuko jumping at a sudden, loud "whoa" and surprised to see the source without a hint of embarrassment at causing such a display.

The boy wasn't a bad singer but he definitely would not make any sort of school choir any time soon, even with all his practicing. Still Zuko had to admire the boy's confidence, not caring who heard him or how he sounded. Not to mention the fact that the boy could run and sing at the same time, meaning the boy had to have really strong lungs.

Each day it was usually a different song, Zuko sometimes rehearing ones from before, but it was always something upbeat and usually older. His co-worker, Jet, had commented that the boy had "old man taste" in music when Zuko had asked if he knew the song. After that Zuko jotted down whatever lyric the boy had sang that day and looked it up later on his computer.

The best thing though was the giant smile on the boy's face whenever he ran by. He didn't care if it was cold or raining or windy; he was just happy to be outside running though he did seem to smile bigger on warm days, when it would be sunny as the sun rose higher into the sky, Zuko wanting them more for just that reason.

From across the road Zuko wasn't sure exactly how old the boy was. Definitely younger than him, but not so much younger that they couldn't be in the same high school, yet he never saw anyone who stood out like the boy did in the hall. Granted he didn't know everyone in the school and it was possible they just had classes in the wrong parts of the school to run into each other but he didn't want to seem like a stalker by asking around about him. He got enough stalker quips from Jet, like he was one to talk with that group of kids he hung out with and the trouble they pulled. At least it was minor stuff for the most part that Iroh was sure Jet would grow out off and Zuko certainly hoped so for he was sick of his uncle sticking up for Jet to the authorities when things got bad.

Still Zuko was curious; he wanted to know about all the old songs and the running so ungodly early and why he sang. He also wanted to know the boy's name.

Unfortunately Zuko only saw the boy at daybreak, the boy either taking a different route home from his run or running by when Zuko was too busy working to notice. And despite Zuko's curiosity he wasn't about to go chasing the boy all over the place to talk to him.

Luck, however, must have been on Zuko's side for as he was being treated to another round of "Walking on Sunshine" when the boy suddenly stopped, almost directly across from the tea shop. The boy took out an old MP3 player and messed with it a bit, before opening the back to take out the battery that must have just died.

As the boy dug around in his other pockets looking for a new battery, Zuko saw his chance. He barely looked for traffic before he ran across the street to him.

The boy must have saw him approaching out of the corner of his eye, turning to him as Zuko reached the side walk. Looking curious, the boy took off his headset, revealing that he had sort of big ears but they sort of suited him too.

"Hey, um, are you okay?" Zuko asked lamely.

Instead of looking at him oddly like Zuko expected, the boy smiled and answered, "Yeah, I'm fine; my MP3 player just died and it looks like I forgot a spare battery."

"I might have a battery you can use," Zuko said without thinking. He didn't carry around electronics like that anymore, just his cell phone and it was rechargeable.

It was too late to take back the lie when the boy grinned and thanked him, so willingly following him over to the teashop; Zuko thought it was amazing the boy had never been abducted before now. He ignored Jet's sneer and asked the boy to wait as he checked his bag for a battery.

Desperate, Zuko all but ran to Song and asked for her help. Again luck smiled on him that Song had an old MP3 player like the boy and had some AAA batteries in her purse. He promised to pay her back and, more calmly walked back out to present the battery to the boy.

When Zuko found the boy now sitting at the counter, drinking tea with his uncle, Zuko wished he had ran back out. He would never get a word in with his uncle being, well, his uncle on going on about tea or something about inner peace that Zuko never really understood.

Iroh spotted Zuko first, smiling and waving him over, "Zuko, why didn't you tell me you befriended our morning songster?"

The boy chuckled, not the least bit embarrassed about being known in such a way, "We actually haven't been properly introduced to each other yet." He turned his chair so he could face Zuko, still smiling like he did when he sang, and held out his hand, "I'm Aang."

Zuko almost dropped the battery in his eagerness to shake Aang's hand in return and introduce himself.

"I know," Aang smiled, "You're in a few classes with my friend Sokka."

In his head, Zuko knew the name sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. He thought over the people in his classes and tried to put names to faces but he honestly could name anyone besides one or two people per class.

Something vaguely made a connection in his mind and he ventured a guess, "the guy with the ponytail?"

Aang laughed again, "He calls it a warrior's wolf tail."

Despite himself Zuko smiled, not even making a sarcastic comment on Sokka's weird name for his hair style, "So we do go to the same school."

"Yeah," Aang nodded, "I guess we just never ran into each other because you're a senior and I'm a freshman."

Though Jet was badly disguising his "jailbait" jab as a cough, Zuko was grateful when Aang didn't seem to hear it.

As Aang drank the tea Iroh had given him, Zuko was able to scratch the surface of all the things he wanted to ask the younger boy. The boy ran so early Saturday mornings because he wanted to get home in time for Saturday morning cartoons, completely unashamed of his very outward inner child, talking a bit about his favorite ones, which mostly consisted of one's about superheroes and a couple of magical girls, just smiling when Jet snorted and ignoring him beyond that.

The music was something Aang was particularly fond of. This was because the songs were all ones he originally heard on a jukebox, which had belonged to his father, when he was much younger. Whenever the upbeat songs played his father would pick him up and swing him around, sometimes tossing Aang into the air and pretending that Aang could fly. Though the jukebox needed repair and currently could not play music anymore it was something his Grandfather had held onto and still had in their living room.

From the way Aang spoke it didn't seem like his father was dead but Aang didn't seem to live with him anymore. Instead he lived with his grandfather Gyatso, whom, as it turned out, was part of Iroh's pai sho group that often met at the White Lotus community center.

Before Zuko could ask more it was time to open the shop and Aang had to get going to finish his run. Iroh refused to take Aang's money in return for the tea, saying Aang gave them plenty for brightening their Saturday mornings every week with his singing.

As he was leaving Aang thanked Zuko for the battery, saying he would come back the next morning to return it.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk to allow some of their first costumers of the day inside, Zuko watched as Aang ran down the street, picking up his singing of "Walking on Sunshine" without missing a beat.

With the knowledge that he would get to see and speak with Aang again tomorrow, Zuko found himself looking forward to daybreak.


	3. Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continued from "Daybreak".

Ever since Zuko leant Aang a battery, Aang had decided that he and Zuko were friends. Normally Zuko would have fought against anyone assuming anything about him but anyone else was not Aang. The boy had a strange, magnetic charisma that was inescapable once you were within its reach and Zuko couldn't say he minded suddenly being his friend.

In reality, Zuko didn't have many friends. He and Jet butted heads more often than not, even if they did work well together when push came to shove. Song was a sweet girl but they didn't really talk outside of the teashop so he couldn't really consider them all that close. At school Zuko usually ended up either eating alone at lunch or sitting with his sister Azula and her friends, Mai and Ty Lee, which didn't happen much anymore since there was still a tension between him and Mai from when they used to date.

That all changed when Aang all but attacked him with friendship. The Monday after the fateful battery exchange Aang came out of nowhere, grabbed Zuko's arm and dragged Zuko to where his friends had gathered to introduce him before Zuko could even think to protest. Aang had friends throughout the grades of both genders and so different personality types Zuko could scarcely believe they were part of one group until he realized Aang was at the center of it.

As Aang rattled off names that would take Zuko forever to remember them all, he realized that Aang was still wearing his blue arrow beanie. Even after the bell ran and they all headed to their classes, Aang still wore it and none of the teachers commented. Normally hats of any kind were not allowed in school so Aang must have gotten special permission for some reason to be able to wear it without a fuss.

Throughout the day the people Zuko had been introduced to that morning came up to him and partnered with him in classes that he had normally been left alone in or forced to team up with someone by the teacher. There was Teo, who was a freshman like Aang but was so brilliant in science he was taking senior classes. He had even added special features to his wheelchair to make it capable of going down stairs with ease, though he had been forbidden from doing so at school because people tended to either not get out of the way in time and teachers thought Teo was trying to get himself killed. Then there was Sokka, who Zuko had pretty much ignored before but was now able to see that despite his goofiness he was actually quite smart and great at thinking up strategies. There was no improving his inability to draw though, especially since Sokka thought it was brilliant. Also in his art class with Sokka was Toph, which Zuko wasn't sure what she was doing there at first, considering she was blind, but she was quite amazing at sculpture. He didn't understand what she had against shoes though, since she kept taking hers off whenever the teacher wasn't looking.

In his other classes he had also properly met Haru, Suki and Sokka's sister Katara. Out them all Katara seemed to be the only one that didn't warm up to Zuko as quickly as Aang's other friends. In fact after class she put her hand on his shoulder and told him that if he hurt Aang there'd be a small army of people who adored Aang that would exact revenge, if she didn't get to him first.

The threat was a surprise but Zuko was used to getting threats, usually from his father or sister. He sort of doubted anything she would do to him would be worse than anything they had come up with over the years.

At lunch Aang jumped up on his chair, shouting and waving to Zuko to join his table. Though Aang seemed to have no shame, the second hand embarrassment almost made Zuko walk straight out of the cafeteria.

Strangely enough he was rescued by Azula, whom told Aang, voice loud enough to be heard without shouting, that Zuko was eating with her today but she would surrender Zuko to him tomorrow. Similar to Aang, Azula had such a high confidence level that making a scene in the cafeteria was no big deal to her.

Aang accepted Azula's statement and waved good bye to Zuko before a teacher yelled at him to sit down.

"So Zuzu," Azula smiled as Zuko sat across from her, "How are you suddenly friends with Aang Churai?"

"It just sort of happened," Zuko didn't want to give details and have Azula suddenly hanging around the teashop. "How do you know him?"

"Who doesn't know him?" Azula scoffed. "He's somehow friends, or at least on good terms, with nearly everyone in this hell hole and he even doesn't use it to his advantage."

"He's like some sort of cosmic force that draws people like a black hole," Ty Lee exclaimed, paused to frown, then smiled widely, "only with light powers instead of suck you in, dark suction powers."

"I think I'd prefer the black hole," Mai droned, not looking at Zuko.

The rest of the week went in a similar fashion, Aang's friends adopting Zuko as a friend by association and most of the school friendlier to Zuko in general as they recognized him as "Aang's friend" which was a vast improvement over "Azula's brother". He suddenly always had a person to partner up with in class and a place to sit at lunch, which was bizarre but not unwelcomed. He even got to sit next to or across from Aang most of the time, getting to see more of his lively charisma up close even if sometimes he couldn't get a word in with the rambunctious group.

A few times Zuko was invited to hang out after class which was fun but disappointing at the same time. It seemed like it was impossible to have any time with just Aang, since a group was always following the boy around. At minimum it was Katara, Sokka and Toph and Katara still wasn't warming up to him.

Saturday morning couldn't come soon enough, yet Zuko felt a little anxious at the same time. What if Aang didn't like Zuko anymore after spending some one-on-one time with him? It was highly plausible considering Zuko's rotten personality and often high temper. Then, not only would he lose Aang, he would lose everyone else by disassociation and though Katara's glares being gone would be no loss the others would be. It had only been a few days since he met the group but he already couldn't imagine another school day without them; without Sokka's sarcasm, Toph's unabashed honesty, Suki's determination, Teo's free spirit or Haru who was still learning to be confident in himself, just as Zuko was.

Zuko was starting to feel nauseous thinking of all the things that could go wrong as he swept the teashop entrance. He never even heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps or when they stopped right behind him and practically shouted their greeting.

"Don't do that," Zuko shouted without thinking and swung around to see that the person who had snuck up on him was the very person he was worried about making a bad impression with. It figured that he would be so bad at being good within the first five seconds.

Aang looked surprised but instead of putting his headphones back on and being on his way, he just smiled, "Okay."

Before Zuko could question how he could be forgiven so easily, Iroh came and invited Aang inside for some tea, which the boy happily accepted. Zuko didn't follow at first until Iroh pulled him inside and sat him next to Aang at the counter.

As Iroh went to get the tea, Zuko's mind buzzed with questions. Why did Aang befriend him? Was it just because of the battery? How long until Aang saw what kind of person Zuko was and avoided the teashop all together? Did he ruin what made his Saturday mornings worth getting up for by hoping for more?

Suddenly Zuko noticed that Aang was staring at him, head tilted slightly to the side in a gesture of curiosity. He had to come up with a reason for his silence. He blurted out the first innocent, yet stupid thing to be thinking so long about that come to his mind,

"Why do you always wear that beanie?"

Again Aang looked surprised and Zuko felt the need to explain, "It's just that you always wear it, even at school, and normally hats aren't allowed."

Aang removed his headphones around where they hung around his neck and placed them onto the counter before he answered, "The school made an exception since I lost all my hair in chemo therapy."

This time it was Zuko's turn to be surprised. He couldn't think of anything to say as it was the last thing he expected to hear.

To fill the silence Aang continued, "The beanie itself is a bit of a long story. You see I was twelve and still living with my dad when the doctors told us I had cancer. My Dad had lost my Mom to cancer when I was really little, I don't really remember her, and the news freaked him out. I overheard him telling my grandfather he couldn't go through it again and, well, I guess I agreed because I ran away.

'Not only did I run out without packing anything I didn't even grab a jacket and it was snowing outside. I have no idea how long I was out there but I passed out from the cold and I had a bizarre dream. I dreamt that I had blue tattoo lines that ran along my body with an arrow on my forehead and arrows on the top of my hands and feet. They glowed when I used this incredible power that made me feel a bit scared but also invincible."

Aang traced over the skin on his arms as he described the tattoos, almost seeming nostalgic for them. Oddly Zuko could even imagine it; Aang wearing robes of orange and yellow, bald and with these tattoos adorning his skin that held such power but also meaning something of symbolic importance that Zuko couldn't quite place.

"That's how I met Katara and Sokka; they found me in the snow," Aang continued, smiling slightly at the memory, "As corny as it is I remember when I woke up and seeing Katara kneeling over me I thought she was an angel. The moment Sokka saw that I was alive he started yelling for help, wrapped me up in his jacket and carried me to their house. Their dad rushed me to the hospital and they stayed by my side as much as the hospital allowed, Katara holding my hand the whole time.

'I guess you could say that's why she's so protective of me and, yes, I know about her threatening you. She does it to any new friends I make. It took forever for her and Toph to get along due to that but they're great friends now so just give her some time.

'I started chemo soon after; Katara and Sokka visited me often and that's where Sokka met his first girlfriend Yue, she was in the children's cancer ward with me. Her hair had gone white from the treatments but she was so sweet and hopeful," Aang paused, tracing his finger over his headphones in an absent gesture, "She didn't make it."

Zuko suddenly had a new respect for Sokka, admiring him for going through that and still being able to laugh and smile and opening his heart again to Suki. He felt a similar admiration for Aang and even Katara to a smaller degree.

"Soon I started to live with my grandfather," Aand continued to explain, "My dad sends grandpa money but I only see him when I'm in remission but even then it's not that often. When he wouldn't come see me during my first treatments I got a bit depressed and I wished I had the power from my dream so I could get better, so things could go back to like it was before. I told Katara about it and she made me the beanie to try and harness a bit of the invincibility I felt from my dream.

'Right now is the second time I've been in remission and, in a way; I thank the beanie for giving me the strength to keep fighting.

'I run because it shows that I'm healthy. I sing because I'm happy that I'm alive and the songs make me happy so I want to share them.

'I don't want to spend my life regretting things I did not do because I know how easily it could end."

When Aang became silent Zuko realized that had some point he had reached out and taken hold of Aang's hand. He had been caressing the smooth, healthy skin on the top of Aang's hand with his thumb and suddenly Zuko just felt so grateful for this chance. He was so very grateful to know Aang's smile and kindness and to hold this warmth, if only for a little while.

"I'm not complaining but, why did you tell me all that," Zuko asked, wishing the question had stayed within his mind. He never would have shared so many things so personal with a person he just started talking to a week ago.

"Because you asked," Aang smiled at him, "And because we're friends."

Zuko smiled in return though he had no idea what to say other than, "Yeah, we are friends."

Putting an end to their own little world Iroh came out with the tea, only to go back into the kitchen to remake it because it had "somehow" gotten cold. If his uncle had noticed Zuko and Aang still holding hands, he never showed it.


	4. Honor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cartoon Alternate Universe.

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stand against them, but even he could not stop them when they used the power of the once every hundred years comet to strike devastating blows to the other three nations, forcing Avatar Roku to choose where to fight. He protected the Air Nomads, the nation where he would be reincarnated should he fall.

Though neither the Water Tribes nor the Earth Kingdom fell that day the Avatar spent decades trying to end the destruction and expansion the Fire Nation started with the comet, named Sozin's comet after the Fire Lord that started the war. And even with the power of the Avatar giving Roku an extended life he did not live to see the end of the war.

Twenty years has passed since anyone had seen the Avatar and Sozin's Comet shall arrive in the sky above their world again in the summer.

Three years has passed since Zuko had nearly been banished, still baring the scar his father gave him in their now infamous Agni Kai brought about by Zuko speaking out against a barbaric plan in a war meeting, which has not even been a remark against his father. His father, Fire Lord Ozai, said suffering would be Zuko's teacher to learn honor and proper respect. He would have banished Zuko to do this if not for Ozai deciding having to face the shame of being an improper prince in the court, without honor and wearing the mark of his ignorance, would serve as a better punishment.

At first Zuko had been grateful. He dreaded the thought of having to leave his home and his position in his family for he had very little else with them. Yet as time went by the staring and the whispering did not stop. The mocking as soon as his back was turned because they knew he had caused his own disfigurement and was only still there because his own father wanted him humiliated.

As little as Zuko wished he had been banished he often wished he could get away. To be among people, strangers, that, even though they could see the scar, they wouldn't know the story behind it. Perhaps if he had been banished he at least would have gotten some sort of goal to get his honor back instead of having to wallow here aimlessly.

The vigilant presence of his Uncle Iroh was the only thing keeping Zuko going at the time. He would get up, dress appropriately, act appropriately, behave and be silent through numerous meetings to show his uncle that he had not been mistaken to let him into the War Room that day. That he would become a proper prince as his father wanted.

A war meeting was where the idea was first presented:

What if instead of using the approaching comet to wipe out the Air Nomads and, hopefully, the Avatar, they created a peace treaty with them? A high ranking general or noble's child could even marry an Air Nomad to seal the deal. This would keep the Air Nomads, and possibly the Avatar by extension, from interfering when the comet came allowing the Fire Nation to concentrate on the vast and more hostile Earth Kingdom.

Even through the nearly hundred years of war the Air Nomads had stayed out of it, preferring the peace of hiding away in their temples than to make any attempt at stopping the war. The only reason to go after them was the Avatar, reborn in one of their temples, likely twenty years ago, and likely a young adult now.

"An interesting notion," Ozai mulled it over. "It would, at the very least, put them into a false sense of security." He frowned, "But a general or noble's child means nothing to these people. We would need someone the Air Nomad's believe is important to us." Slowly he smiled and turned to his right, "Zuko."

This was probably the first time his father acknowledged Zuko in the war room since he had spoken out. He hoped he sounded confident or not timid at best, when he spoke, "Yes Father?"

"You will marry one of the Air Nomads," Ozai announced.

"Yes Father," Zuko knew not to argue, though out of the corner of his good eye he could see his uncle frowning.

"Lucky you Zuzu," Azula opened mocked him as she sat beside him. "You'll have your choice of bride from a culture of push-overs. You'll have a lot to talk about."

Zuko thought this over a moment and what they hoped to accomplish with this. He hoped his idea was worth the risk of speaking when not spoken to.

"Then I have decided who I want."

"You can't be serious, choosing sight unseen?" Azula scoffed. "What if she's ugly?"

"It doesn't matter because that is not a factor of how or who I am choosing," Zuko wanted to look at his father but dared not when he spoke again, "I choose the Avatar."

There was silence until Azula laughed, "You must be joking. Avatar Roku disappeared twenty years ago, which means this new Avatar should be about the same age which would make them older than you by about three years. Plus the Avatar could be a man. And, most importantly, why would the Air Nomads surrender the Avatar to you; their biggest piece of leverage any of the nations can have?"

"That's exactly why they would agree if they agree to this at all," Zuko turned to his sister. "Just any Air Nomad wouldn't due for this peace treaty to work just as it wouldn't for it to be just anyone on our side. The Avatar is the symbol of peace and balance to this world and the Air Nomads uphold peace and their own spiritual balance so highly that if they thought the Avatar being married to me could end the war they would take that chance."

Azula seemed to think this over and, finding no argument, asked, "So it doesn't bother you that the Avatar could be a much older man?"

"The possible age difference is not that much and it doesn't matter if it's a man," Zuko stated. "This is a marriage in name only, not any sort of love or attraction for either party."

For a moment, Azula tapped her nails on the table, thinking it over, "You know it isn't a horrible idea. The Air Nomads may be willing to sacrifice the Avatar to us in order to protect their people; the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the one so to speak. Besides with the Avatar part of the royal family the Air Nomads wouldn't be able to make a move against us either, not even to protect the other nations."

Silence returned to the room outside the crackling of the flames around Ozai's thrown. When Zuko saw Azula had turned to their father, he dared to do the same.

Ozai was smiling.

Messenger hawks were sent to all the Air Nomad temples, with details of their offered peace treaty. The Avatar would marry the Crown Prince in return for the Air Temples getting immunity in the war.

The first few hawks returned with disappointing news, saying the Avatar had not been reborn there. Finally the one from the Southern Air Temple arrived saying that the Avatar had been reborn there but they needed time to consult with the other temples on whether or not to accept the Fire Nation's deal.

They sent back the hawk saying the Fire Nation would give them a month to make their decision. The waiting made Zuko anxious, especially when the deadline was approaching and Ozai had begun to make back up plans to attack the Southern Air Temple to get the Avatar that way. It wasn't until the last day that the hawk returned, the Air Nomads accepting the terms of the peace treaty.

More hawks were exchanged, planning the details. Some diplomats from the Fire Nation would go to the Southern Air Temple to retrieve the Avatar and have the treaty signed by the elder monks there. Zuko's Uncle Iroh even offered to accompany them, confiding in Zuko that he had always wanted to see an Air Nomad temple and meet the monks there for they were known to be very wise. Zuko had requested to go as well, to meet the Avatar at his home before he came to the Fire Nation but Ozai refused, saying Zuko was to stay put.

Soon enough Iroh left with the diplomats and Zuko was left to wait. Wait and listen to Azula go on about all things that could go wrong as he did his best to ignore her.

When news finally came that Iroh had returned with the Avatar, Zuko nearly ran to the courtyard where the servants would be unpacking the carriage that brought them back the last leg of the journey to the palace. Still he was surprised to see Iroh not looking happy, frowning to himself, not even seeing Zuko approach.

Then Zuko noticed a young boy near the carriage, no more than twelve, wearing Air Nomad clothing and already bearing the Airbending master arrow tattoos. He stood with his back to Zuko, petting over one of the ostrich-horse's neck. Could the Avatar have had a child already from some sort of previous marriage? If that was the case the Avatar was much older than he thought even though he was nowhere to be seen.

"Uncle," Zuko approached Iroh, further surprised when his uncle still did not smile when he saw his nephew as he normally did. "Where is the Avatar?"

With a sigh, Iroh suggested toward the child as the child turned to look at Zuko at the mention of the Avatar.

Immediately Zuko felt a knot in his stomach. He had been prepared for someone older. Man or woman but definitely older. Why would the Air Nomads agree to this if the Avatar was truly this young?

"But you're just a child," Zuko protested, realizing how stupid it was once he said it. It wasn't as though the boy could magically change his age.

"Well, you're just a teenager," the child retorted, but without any anger or energy of any kind, before turning away from him, going back to petting the ostrich-horse.

All Zuko could do was mentally kick himself. He never considered the possibility that the Avatar could be younger than him, a child. Avatar Roku had been gone for twenty years so everyone thought he had died but he must have had been sick or too old to fight and died at least eight years later then they thought.

"Uncle," Zuko spoke softly to his uncle, "Why did you bring him? He's too young; someone else should have been chosen."

"I agree with you nephew but the treaty was for the Avatar, the Air Nomads agreed to it and the diplomats would not budge no matter what I said," Iroh lamented. "You two will be engaged for now, the wedding will have to wait until he's older."

"But," Zuko wanted to protest but he knew that if the diplomats had no problem with the Avatar's age than likely his father would not care either. There was no one to blame but him. He had been the one to choose the Avatar without regarding any of the possibilities and now he had caused a child to be torn away from his home with the knowledge he had to marry the person responsible for it, an older boy.

With very little other options, Zuko approached the Avatar and bowed his head to him, "I am sorry Avatar."

Really Zuko could not blame him when the Avatar ignored him, stepping closer to the ostrich-horse to get further away from the Fire Nation prince. He noted that the Avatar seemed to have a way with animals, the ostrich-horse nuzzling the Avatar in a way Zuko had never seen any of the species do to a person before.

Looking around, Zuko noticed that the luggage being removed from the carriage was mostly his uncle's. Still he didn't see any luggage that wasn't in Fire Nation colors.

"Where are the Avatar's things?" Zuko asked his uncle.

Iroh stayed silent a moment, looking to the Avatar to see if he would answer, but when the Avatar did not, Iroh turned to his nephew, "The Air Nomads don't typically have a lot of possessions but what he did have the diplomats did not want him to bring. They think that the Avatar should wear Fire Nation clothing to show his betrothal to you and did not want him to bring his glider in case-"

"In case I wanted to use it to run away," the Avatar finished for him, but did not look at them. "The same reason they would not allow me to bring Appa."

"Appa," Zuko questioned.

"Aang's flying sky bison," Iroh explained.

Zuko barley registered that the Avatar's name was Aang before Aang spoke again.

"A sky bison is suppose to be a companion for life," Aang's voice was shaking. "We've been together since he was a baby and now I'll never see him again!"

"Avatar," Zuko wasn't sure what he would say but stopped when Aand turned to him, looking close to tears.

"Don't call me that," Aang yelled at him, "I'm Aang. My name is Aang. Not Avatar! I never wanted to be the Avatar, I'm just a kid, I just," he could no longer speak for a moment, tears falling down his face. "I want to go home."

His body frozen Zuko could only watch as his uncle rushed past him and tried to comfort the boy, wrapping his arms around him in a hug. Aang did not return the hug, but leaned against Iroh as he cried, Zuko unsure if he should stay or give them space. In the end he chose the cowards way and left.

The next time Zuko saw Aang it was at a ceremony making their engagement official. Aang had been forced to wear Fire Nation colors though the design of his clothing had stayed near the Air Nomad robes Aang had arrived in, no doubt due to Iroh's influence.

Throughout the ceremony Aang did not look at Zuko, looking somewhere beyond the official instead, ignoring how the official went on, on how much of an honor it was to unite the Royal Family with the Avatar. Only at the end did Zuko realize that the official never once called Aang by name.

Once the ceremony was over it was a celebration of the engagement with diplomats, nobles along with a few generals and admirals. The only ones even close to Aang in age were Zuko and Azula but as soon as Aang didn't have to stand by Zuko anymore he went to Iroh, preferring the older man's company than to the older boy who was now his betrothed.

Zuko didn't even notice that Azula had come to stand behind him until she began to make clicking noises by pulling back her tongue from the back of her front teeth, also shaking her head in bemusement.

"Having problems with your child bride already Zuzu?"

"He's not anyone's bride Azula," Zuko frowned at her.

"Oh excuse me, I hadn't realized that you wanted to wear the dress," Azula smirked.

"No one is the bride," Zuko seethed.

"Not with the way this is going," Azula suggested to the physical distance between Zuko and Aang. "It's too bad too; he has potential to grow up to be quite handsome. Maybe you should have him grow out his hair?"

"I'm not making him do anything," said Zuko.

"Oh you mean besides leave his home, friends, giant flying pet, give up his culture, what little earthly possessions he had, keep him here and marry you once he's old enough so you're not a complete pedophile," Azula smirked. "Yes, I can see that going well."

Zuko felt his face go hot and he could only grumble for he had no argument since what Azula said was true. Besides him being any sort of pedophile that is; he had no interest in marrying this child, even after he was older, or doing anything he had ended up doing to Aang. He thought he would be dealing with an adult that would have been traveling the world any way to learn the other elements.

Something in Zuko's brain sparked and it took all of his will power not to run to his uncle to try to get his help in figuring out how to get it to work. He needed to give Aang some space and hope he'd be willing to listen once the time came.

After the party Zuko discovered everything in his room had been moved to a new room. The room was still in the Royal Family hall but now he had a room with a door that connected his room to another's, specifically Aang's room. It was some sort of betrothal suite so he and Aang could get to know each other during their engagement.

Azula immediately told Zuko to keep his hands to himself, delighting in making him blush again. It only could have been better if she had elicited a reaction from the Avatar as well but she supposed it was only a manner of time before the Avatar came out of his sad stupor and she got under his skin.

Once Aang was in his room, Zuko lamented the fact that the door between their rooms did not lock from either side. He had hoped that would have given Aang some peace of mind but he also hoped Aang didn't think so lowly of Zuko to think the prince would try to do anything to him.

Instead of going to bed Zuko went to his uncle to suggest his idea. Since Aang and Zuko were engaged, Zuko technically had guardianship over Aang now. Zuko would be able to have more say in Aang's life than anyone else, short of Ozai. He would be able to give Aang back his Air Nomad clothing and take him outside of the palace and even out of the Nation.

The hard part would be convincing Ozai. Iroh suggested that since Aang only knew airbending that there was no way of knowing he was really the Avatar which means the Air Nomads could have tricked them to protect the real Avatar. They needed a way to test Aang as the Avatar and since the next element in the cycle was water, they had to go to one of the Water Tribes to see if he was capable of learning another element. To keep Zuko out of trouble if Ozai didn't like their plan, Iroh would be the one to bring it up.

In the morning Zuko found out that Aang had not accepted the food brought to him for breakfast, even though the cooks were already ordered to prepare vegetarian meals for him. Though the servant that told him thought Aang could be sick, Zuko was sure Aang was just too depressed to be hungry or was rejecting food in hopes of starving himself to death. Zuko had gone through something similar after his near banishment.

Hoping to get their plan approved quickly, Zuko asked Iroh to bring it up at the meeting that day rather than giving some time for dust to settle from the engagement first. Iroh hesitated to rush things until he heard that Aang was not eating, his concern allowing him to be swayed into action.

As to be expected, Ozai was not pleased by the idea that the Air Nomads could have cheated their side of the treaty and that the Avatar could still be out there. Still it took some convincing for him to allow the Avatar they had to leave the palace, let alone the Fire Nation to be tested. He finally agreed on the condition that both Iroh and Zuko go with Aang to have him tested and to not return until they were certain.

Zuko almost regretted his idea when his father said that if Aang proved not to be the Avatar then he would be the first Air Nomad to die for their deceit.

The meeting had lasted most of the day, the council breaking for lunch and dinner before anything had been decided. It would take a couple days to get a ship and crew ready but that didn't mean Zuko couldn't try to start mending bridges now.

As soon as he was free to go Zuko returned to the rooms; the same servant from that morning informing him that Aang had refused lunch and dinner as well. She looked curious as to the clothes Zuko was carrying but dared not to ask him about them and soon she was on her way.

When both his first and second tries at knocking at Aang's door had gone unanswered Zuko went into Aang's room anyway, curious when he wasn't immediately blown back out by some airbending. He moved further into the room to find it dark, the curtains drawn, not evening letting in the moonlight, and no candles had been lit.

Rather than create a light with his firebending, Zuko allowed his eyes to adjust and looked around. As he had expected the room was pretty bare, Aang having no personal effects to even try to give his room any sort of personal touch. The only room decoration was a Fire Nation banner hanging on the far wall, something Aang would have been forced to see each morning he woke up in this room.

Finally Zuko spotted Aang in the bed, apparently asleep. He wasn't sure if Aang had retired early or if he had spent the day in bed, remembering his own days were all he wanted to do was sleep because nothing he did mattered.

Deciding not to wake Aang, Zuko went over to the boy's bedside to return the Avatar's Air Nomad clothing to him, leaving it on his night stand. He had no doubt Aang would be at least a little happy to have them back and perhaps more willing to talk to Zuko and hear about what he and his uncle has convinced his father of.

"What are you doing here?" Aang's voice took Zuko by surprise.

As Zuko turned to face him, Aang sat up in the bed to look at him in return. The Avatar was still wearing the robes from the engagement ceremony, having not bothered to change since he crawled into the bed and stayed there since, not caring if the robes got wrinkled or ruined by his treatment of them.

"Ah, clothes," Zuko tried to pick back up the Air Nomad robes but dropped them in his haste. He quickly picked them back up, continuing as he awkwardly tried to refold them. "You clothes, these are yours; I'm giving them back to you, I'm sorry they were taken away to begin with."

Aang remained silent, watching him passively. At least Zuko could be grateful that Aang didn't seem worried about him in Aang's room, alone, in the dark.

Quickly putting down the clothes Zuko created a small light with his firebending and continued, "I wanted to tell you that uncle and I talked to my father. We," he hesitated to say that they didn't even attempt to convince Ozai to put an end to the engagement, it feeling like yet another failure on his part, "We managed to persuade him that you could be an Avatar imposter-"

Immediately Zuko regretted his wording, watching as anger stormed within Aang's eyes.

"Why would I lie about that," Aang practically seethed and suggested around them. "You think I want any of this? That I want to be away from my home, trapped here with you?"

Zuko winced but tried to clarify, "Not you, the elders could have lied to protect the real Avatar, not that I doubt you are the Avatar, but it was the only way to get my father to agree to let you leave the palace."

Surprise took away the anger, Aang daring to appear hopeful, "He canceled the engagement?"

"No," Zuko sighed. "But he agreed to let me and Uncle take you to the South Pole to see if you can learn to bend another element from a teacher there."

"But the monks said that the Fire Nation has been abducting waterbenders from the South Pole for years, it's very unlikely we'd find anyone to teach me there," Aang sounded hesitant but with a honesty, even when it could end up being to his disadvantage, that Zuko wasn't used to hearing.

"That's true but it is close to the Southern Air Temple," said Zuko. "I thought, after we were done at the South Pole, we could go there. I figured the least I can do is help you get your glider and bison back."

Zuko didn't even see Aang move but suddenly the boy had sprung out of the bed and grabbed him. It took a moment for him to realize that Aang was hugging him.

"Thank you," Aang's voice was soft and sounded like he might be crying, "And his name is Appa."

Unsure what else to do, Zuko slowly and very lightly returned Aang's embrace, unable to remember the last time he shared such a simple gesture with anyone, even his uncle.

"We'll get Appa back soon then," Zuko said, just to show that he had been listening, surprised when the younger boy's arms around him tightened around him, making him unable to pull away.

Now Zuko was the one trapped by the Avatar and it was actually sort of nice.


	5. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continued from "Honor".
> 
> Warning: This one is pretty long, going through a lot of the cartoon verse on how things would have been different with the set up from "Honor".

The wind was blowing softly outside his bedroom window at the Western Air Temple, oddly calming despite the fact Zuko knew the world was anything but peaceful outside the temple. In fact he was sure there were varying degrees of anger, bitterness and sadness raging within the people at the temple as well.

So much had happened since Zuko became engaged to Aang. So much had changed. Zuko himself had changed, or at least so he hoped.

It all started with the sailing to the South Pole, knowing full well it was very unlikely they would find a waterbending teacher there. Instead they found Katara, a waterbender novice for she was the only one in her village with the ability and thus had no one to teach her as well. With her they met Sokka, her brother, whom made no secret of his distrust of anyone Fire Nation, traveling with the Avatar or not.

Almost immediately Zuko saw Aang develop an attraction for Katara. He had half wondered at the time if Aang had ever spent any time around any girls at the temple, for he never really acknowledged Azula or any other girl before they left the Fire Nation but that may have been due to the depression the young airbender had been muddling through at the time. Still a crush was harmless enough and Zuko didn't feel the need to dwell much on it unless it came to be a problem.

Though Katara and Sokka proved to be problems in their own way; along with Sokka's distrust, Katara seemed to despise the entire Fire Nation crew, especially Zuko when she learned about Aang's arranged engagement to him. Zuko had Uncle's poor attempt to endear them to the village to blame for that information being publically announced. After that Katara told Zuko, not asked or even hesitated in the slightest to demand, that she would be coming with them to the North Pole to find a waterbending teacher, putting her arm around Aang in a protective fashion that made Aang's face turn a bit red. Sokka, imitating Katara, chimed in that he would be doing the same for there was no way he was going to let his sister leave on her own on a ship full of men, let alone Fire Nation men.

At first Zuko was going to refuse. He didn't want to make another trip later to return them, let alone have them in the way during the voyage. His dismissal was distinguished though when he saw Aang smiling at the idea of the Water Tribe siblings coming along, making him feel like he had no choice but to agree. Very little had made Aang smile since they met and he would be damned if he did anything to take even a little of the monk's happiness away.

Besides Zuko and his uncle, the crew stayed on board the ship when they arrived at the Southern Air Temple. The hike up the mountain had been long and strenuous, made worse by Sokka's complaining, but at least there was the building excitement in Aang's demeanor made up for some of it.

When they arrived at the temple the monks had been more than surprised to see them. As Iroh talked to the elders about retrieving Aang's bison, Zuko watched as Aang tried to go to the other children to introduce them to Katara and Sokka but became confused when the children weren't ecstatic to see him. In fact after a brief conversation, a physical distance kept between the other children and Aang, the other children airbended away, taking away the excitement Aang had built up during the climb with them.

Zuko found out later that the children had been told that Aang was the Avatar after he left, told that Aang belonged to the world rather than with the Air Nomads. Katara had tried to assure Aang that they just didn't know how to treat him anymore and hadn't meant to be so cold but Zuko silently agreed with Sokka that they were "stupid kids".

As if the pain of that rejection had not been enough, when Aang came back to where Iroh was speaking with the elders, the elders informed him that his guardian and teacher, Monk Gyatso, had passed away shortly after Aang had left. The monk had apparently been very old, having been about the same age as the previous Avatar, even had been friends and learned airbending with him. He had also been one of the few to protest against the engagement.

Everything around Aang had gone still and quiet at first. His face a strange sort of blank horror that could not accept the death of his mentor but knowing it had to be true. Then the air seemed to get thicker, crackling with an unknown energy as a sudden wind picked up around them. Aang blinked and his eyes were no longer silvery gray but a solid white that glowed with cosmic energy, as well as lighting up his tattoos.

Along with the light the wind picked up before lashing out at everyone around Aang, forcing them all back. The wind increased further, lifting Aang off the ground and making it hard for them to keep their footing.

Luckily while the others were being forced back, Zuko found leverage to stay in place with a stone, possibly used as a seat during meditation but he hadn't taken a good look at it. Instead he called out to Aang, saying he understood the pain of having lost someone dear to him; his mother having been taken away from him and he didn't even know what happened to her. He also told Aang that he wasn't alone, but he didn't know who to use as an example seeing as they weren't exactly on the best terms, even with their engagement.

That is when Katara joined him, telling Aang that she and Sokka would be Aang's family from then on. She also looked at Zuko, seeming to be seeing him in a new light, before saying Zuko was there for Aang as well for if it wasn't for Zuko they never would have met and Aang may have never known what happened to his mentor.

Slowly the wind calmed and Aang returned to the ground, though the glow remained. Both Katara and Sokka walked up to the young monk, Sokka promising that he and Katara wouldn't let anything happen to Aang. The glow of the Avatar state finally faded when Katara held Aang's hand and he collasped, exhausted, into her arms. Aang apologized softly but Katara assured him that it wasn't his fault but Aang remained silent until the elder monks took them to where Appa was.

The flying bison was much bigger than Zuko imagined, but that didn't stop Appa from jumping up at the sight of Aang and rushing over to nuzzle his air bender as if he was a giant owl-cat. Being reunited with his bison seemed to cheer up Aang a little, stroking over Appa's snout with a small smile on his face.

It was then Sokka pointed out that there was something moving around in the fur of Appa's head. That something turned out to be a baby lemur, no more than a week old that had attached itself to Appa as if the bison was his mother. Since they couldn't separate the two, Iroh suggested they bring the baby lemur with them, which Aang seemed to agree with, naming the little guy Momo after the baby tried to steal the peach Sokka was eating but only managed to gum it up a little. Little Momo clang to Aang like he was a second mother; sitting on the boy's shoulders and nuzzling his cheek, making noises akin to purring.

After Aang went to pay his respects to Gyatso, he went with Katara, Sokka and Zuko to his old room to retrieve his glider and the rest of clothes, leaving behind four toys that he wouldn't even acknowledge. Then the group, along with Iroh, loaded onto Appa's saddle to fly back down to the ship. None of the children came to say good bye to Aang and the elders were rather formal, calling him "Avatar" rather than by name.

Sokka commented "good riddance" and Katara hit him, Aang remaining silent about the whole thing as he steered Appa down the mountain.

In reality Aang going into the Avatar State proved that Aang was indeed the Avatar. There was no need for them to go to the North Pole but Zuko didn't want to rush Aang back to the Fire Nation. He used the excuse of also taking Katara to get a waterbending teacher to hide the proof of Aang being an Avatar from the crew and continue to the North Pole. At least that's the reasoning he told his uncle.

However now there was a slight problem. With Appa being as big as he was, there were not enough supplies on the ship to feed him and his weight could put stress on the ship during the journey.

"He's a flying bison," Sokka interrupted when Iroh and Zuko were discussing this. "Why don't we just jump on his back and "yip yip" our way to the North Pole?"

In the end that's what they ended up doing. Zuko and his uncle disguised themselves as Earth Kingdom citizens and rode with Aang and the others on Appa, meeting with the ship on occasion to restock supplies, knowing full well they would have to part with the ship on the last leg of their journey to the North Pole since a Fire Nation ship would never be welcomed there and they would get even less of a warm welcome than at the South Pole. The South Pole had been chipped away at for the entirety of the war while the North Pole still held strong and could likely sink the ship before they even knew what happened.

Zuko's mostly shaved head with his ponytail made Zuko stand out, not to mention his scar, so he wore a hood most of the time in an attempt to hide them. With his top knot taken down and change of clothes, Iroh blended in rather well though.

So much happened just in that time of traveling the Earth Kingdom, unknown to the people they met as being Fire Nation. They met Suki and her group of female warriors whom styled themselves after the previous Earth Kingdom Avatar Kyoshi. The village's treatment of Aang as the Avatar lightened his spirits a bit though he mostly stuck to Katara rather than the young girls of the village flocking around him, seeming uncomfortable with that much attention. On the other hand Sokka seemed to enjoy the attention from the Kyoshi Warrior leader, Suki, after she beat him in a fight and made him cross dress to train him a bit in the Kyoshi Warrior style that is.

Then there was the old King Bumi in Omashu that Aang had befriended on previous trips to the kingdom, whom surprisingly didn't immediately turn on Zuko after learning of the engagement, Aang unwilling to lie to his friend. Instead King Bumi just stared at Zuko a while, asked him if he liked rock candy, then spoke with Iroh over tea while Aang somehow convinced the rest of them to ride the mail carts down the chutes with him and they somehow didn't die.

Meeting Haru was almost challenging to Zuko; Zuko able to relate to a parent being taken away from him but unable to try to talk to him without revealing he was part of the Nation responsible for causing Haru this pain. Katara, however, could, she revealed that her mother had been killed by the Fire Nation in their last raid on the South Pole looking for waterbenders. Zuko wondered if his telling Aang that he had lost his mother back at the Southern Air Temple had been why Katara treated Zuko, not as a friend, but someone she at least didn't hate like when they first met since they had gotten Appa.

When Haru was arrested for Earthbending, Katara nearly turned on Zuko when he refused to use his Fire Nation Prince status to get Haru released. It took Iroh explaining that if Zuko did something like that Ozai would get word of it and they would be forced to return to the Fire Nation with Aang without ever making it to the North Pole to calm her down. Instead Zuko was forced to sit and wait while Katara got herself arrested for Earthbending, with help of Aang's airbending and conveniently placed mining grates, to free Haru from the inside. It turned into Katara starting a revolution on the prison ship that freed the entire prison, Zuko silently watching as the freed men swore to return to their villagers and reclaim them from the Fire Nation. At least he had recovered Katara's necklace when it fell on the prison ship, it putting Zuko back in her good graces when he returned it to her.

Jet was definitely the hardest to meet, to see what happened to children orphaned in the war. To see them fight and struggle and forced to grow up too quickly. Not to mention how blind hatred had made Jet willing to do anything to be rid of anything or anyone associated with the Fire Nation. Only Sokka warning the people of a Fire Nation occupied village to get them out in time before it flooded stopped Jet from succeeding in his plan which he had tricked Katara and Aang into helping in. Zuko hadn't been sure who the betrayal had hurt more, Katara whom had developed feelings for Jet or Aang who felt like a failure of a Avatar for failing for Jet's lies and nearly helping him kill innocent people.

Afterward it was probably the first real conversation Zuko and Aang ever had. Zuko assured Aang that everyone made mistakes and anyone could be fooled by someone; it didn't make him any less of a person, let alone a failure at being the Avatar. Aang admitted he was still scared of the responsibility he had, unsure how he could accomplish what he needed to do being engaged to Zuko whom was the prince of the aggressors in this war. After some silence, Zuko admitted he wasn't sure either, forcing himself to keep from apologizing yet again to the young monk.

Later they met a fortune teller whom knew immediately who Zuko and Iroh were, flirting a bit with Iroh which was, hands down, the weirdest thing Zuko had ever seen. He and Sokka even made matching faces of horror when their eyes met. He hadn't though much of fortune telling before but he couldn't get what she told him out of his head; that he would reach the destiny he always expected for himself but not in the way he expected it and he had to make the right choices or he wouldn't be the only one he stopped from achieving his destiny.

Time went by, they met more people all of whom made Zuko question what his nation was doing. And they did lose their crew, thus their ship when Zhao commandeered them to an attack on the North Pole, which was exactly where they were heading. Zhao wanted Zuko to order Aang to fight with them to conquer the North Pole but Zuko refused, arguing he would not risk the life of his betrothed. Zhao had also wanted Iroh on the war effort as an advisor but Iroh said he was staying where he was needed, with his nephew.

Though Zuko had been grateful to his uncle; refusing Zhao turned out to be a more dangerous play than they had thought. Not long after the ship exploded while Zuko was the only one onboard, Zuko only having survived due to his superior hearing alerting him in time to get to relatively safely. He didn't make it out unscathed but at least he was alive.

As Katara worked to heal him, unable to do so completely without proper training, Iroh said he would go with Zhao to the North Pole to keep an eye on him. Zuko would go to the North Pole with Aang, whom was, as far as the Fire Nation knew, free from the peace treaty due to Zuko's "death", and the others to keep the truth of his survival a secret until they were sure Zhao would not make another attempt.

When Iroh suggested this plan, Zuko thought the others would object. Why would they want anything to do with Zuko if they weren't obligated to keep him around? Surprisingly Aang was the first to agree to it, the siblings nodding in understanding.

At first Zuko was forced to take it easy at the North Pole, his recovery quickening once Katara got him to some fully trained healers, as the others warned the North Pole the Fire Nation was coming and they got Aang a waterbending teacher. Zuko almost laughed at the gender divide at the North Pole, it seeming moronic to divide up bending like that and, even stupider, to refuse able bodied benders that could fight in the upcoming invasion attempt just because they were women.

He kept his comments to himself though, unsure how well they would go over in this culture and unsure whose side he was suppose to be on while he was there. On this trip he learned he didn't like everything his nation did but he was still their prince and future Fire Lord; he was suppose to be helping them, not silently cheering for Katara when she forced her way into waterbending lessons.

Watching Aang fight against the Fire Nation fleet did not sit well with Zuko, it paining him he was more concerned for the monk's safety then that of the success of the invasion. Nothing, however, was more terrifying than seeing Aang overtaken by the Water Spirit and seeing him wipe out the invading forces, the spirit taking Zhao for killing the Moon Spirit, to who knows where before the Water Spirit released Aang when Princess Yue gave her life to renew the Moon Spirit.

With the invasion a failure and several Fire Nation soldiers, which survived due to their retreat, seeing Zuko alive the prince hadn't been sure where that left him. If he stayed with Aang he would be a traitor to his country but if he left with Iroh to get back to the Earth Kingdom to eventually return to the Fire Nation he would be without Aang and that bothered him for one reason or another. A small part of him admitted he would even slightly miss Katara, Sokka, Appa and little but rapidly growing Momo, whom liked to nap in his lap.

"It's your choice nephew," Iroh said so simply when Zuko voiced his concerned when they were alone beside the dozing Momo, "Only you can decide what you want."

"But the Fire Nation is our home," Zuko argued, though he gazed down and stroked over the lemur's back. "If we stay, we can never go back."

"Perhaps," Iroh nodded solemnly, "but destiny is a funny thing and often comes in unexpected forms."

His uncle's words reminded Zuko of the Fortune Teller; his choice could stop someone else from achieving their destiny if he chose wrong today.

Aang came practically gliding into the room with his airbending, smiling brightly in a way that took a while to manifest after leaving the Fire Nation. He came to sit across from Zuko and pet over Momo's ears as he asked how Zuko was feeling.

Having Aang so close, made Zuko's choice clear. He asked Aang to get his knife from his bag and he used it to cut off his ponytail, banishing himself and watching as Iroh did the same with the hair from his top knot. He could tell Aang didn't understand why they were doing this and Zuko didn't feel the need to explain, just saying that he was feeling better and asked about Aang's most recent waterbending lesson.

After they were done with as much training as they could stay for at the North Pole, Katara becoming Aang's new teacher as they travel, they returned to the Earth Kingdom. They had met up with a General who was suppose to escort them to Omashu but instead convinced Aang to try to master the Avatar State instead to end the war quicker. Neither Zuko nor Katara thought this was a good idea but Aang was convinced that he had to try. The episode nearly turned violent, the general resorting to threatening Katara and making it look like he had killed her to make Katara go into the Avatar State. While in the Avatar State Aang had caused a lot of damage but hadn't hurt anyone, apologizing to Katara once he came out of the state on his own as she held him.

Sokka beat Zuko to knocking the General Idiot unconscious and the group left to go to Omashu on their own. They encountered a band of traveling musicians and ended up traveling with them through a secret love tunnel to get to Omashu. The group had been divided by a cave in, Iroh, Zuko and Sokka trapped with the musicians, Sokka continually slapping his own forehead in frustration with them while Iroh had to remind Zuko that violence was not the answer. Still Zuko concentrated on his annoyance with them to try and keep from worrying over Aang and Katara on their own in the tunnels.

When they all made it out of the tunnels, Aang was looking at Katara differently. It wasn't the same forlorn puppy love that Zuko was used to associating Aang with while looking at Katara. Instead it was the same look and smile Aang looked at Sokka and Iroh with; that of looking at a friend. Something had happened in the tunnels that ended Aang's crush on the watertribe girl; Zuko almost wanted to ask what but wasn't sure if he really wanted to know.

From the tunnel they went to Omashu to find that it had been overtaken by the Fire Nation. They went in anyway, Aang insisting that they had to find his friend, King Bumi, not listening when Sokka said it was possible that he wasn't around anymore. With the help from some creatures from the sewers, they tricked the Fire Nation soldiers into releasing the citizens of Omashu and accidently ended up with a hostage; Mai's younger brother.

Zuko remembered Mai from his childhood, though he hadn't seen her for some time as her father was a figurehead diplomat Zuko's father often moved around. She had been friends with Azula growing up, more than likely was if only out of fear of Azula. He wasn't sure what he would do if faced with someone from the Fire Nation he knew rather than a random soldier.

The group tried to use the toddler in a prisoner exchange to get back King Bumi but in the end it failed because King Bumi did not want to be rescued; waiting for the right time to strike to reclaim the city. Aang returned the toddler once they were safe from Azula, Ty-Lee and Mai, and Zuko remained confident about his choice after fighting against them. Still it stung a little his sister could attack and try to take him down without so much as flinching; though it really shouldn't surprise him given their history and their father's continued hold over her that Zuko wasn't even sure if he was free from.

From Omashu they encountered a swamp that Zuko frankly did not like thinking about due to who he saw in the swamps fog. Then they found and recruited Toph, a blind earthbending master, not much younger than Aang, to be his earthbending teacher.

There was being chased by Azula, Aang's struggle with earthbending, finding the library, finding out about the eclipse, losing Appa and the trek to Bei Sing-Se, Zuko's hair growing out and so much more that reshaped the person Zuko had been. He was no longer the quiet, apologetic coward that did nothing when faced with what he knew was wrong. Under the quiet an anger emerged, Iroh saying it had been suppressed at the palace, but Zuko tried to keep it under control or at least directed at himself and stupid things around him rather than directing it at the group, which he had developed a protectiveness over; Aang in particular.

With Zuko's betrayal to the Fire Nation, the treaty was definitely null and void. Aang no longer had any obligation to Zuko, nor Zuko to Aang but there was still this responsibility Zuko felt for dragging Aang out into the world, possibly years before he would have been without Zuko's interference. He blamed that for his fierce desire to protect the younger boy, whom was getting stronger than him with each passing day.

Sokka still liked to tease them about their betrothal though, sometimes to be annoying, other times to lighten the mood when tensions were thick. Once in the market place while hanging posters to find Appa with, Sokka found some lace, placing it over Aang's head and called him a beautiful bride.

It wasn't like the lace looked bad, especially with Aang's indignant blush spreading across his face, but Zuko took it off and tossed it back at the vendor it came from without saying a word. Defending himself or insisting the engagement was over only made Sokka's teasing worse or make Toph join in but he found himself blushing when he spotted Iroh smiling at them in a way that just seemed to know something.

Eventually they were able to get to Appa when Zuko interrogated a Dai Li agent with some double swords he had stolen during their travels. Aang hadn't approved of the theft but he couldn't be more grateful when they got Appa back and discovered the secret base of the Dai Li to tell the Earth King about.

It took a lot to convince the Earth King of what was happening right under his nose but once they had they settled into a somewhat peaceful period, it getting quiet when Aang left to try to master the Avatar State with a Guru. The quiet added to when Sokka, Katara and Toph left to meet with one of their parents, Iroh the only one staying behind with Zuko thought Zuko didn't see him much as he was planning a invasion effort to attack the Fire Nation during the solar eclipse.

Though Zuko had long realized his nation needed to be stopped, he felt sick at the thought of returning to it as an invader. He spent much time wondering around on his own to try and clear his head.

That's how Azula captured him, striking with the Dai Li though he had no clue how she even got into the city. He was left imprisoned in a crystal cavern, told that Iroh and any of the Avatar's friends she could gather up would be joining him shortly.

When Iroh did join him it was with Katara and Aang on a rescue mission. Zuko had been so relieved he nearly hugged Aang, awkwardly patting his shoulder instead.

What happened next was almost as mentally exhausting as it was physically. Katara and Aang went ahead and suddenly Iroh was trapped in crystal by the Dai Li. Azula came, saying she never thought Zuko was a traitor, that he could still come home if he made the right choice and left him there to think.

The fortune teller came to mind again and Zuko, unable to free Iroh from the crystal, went to join the fight. It was tempting to listen to Azula, to go home and put the things he saw and the people he met and their suffering behind him. To pretend this entire trip had never happened but one look at Aang and he knew what his choice was.

Zuko attacked Azula and the fight raged on, it being in their favor until the Dai Li came in troves as reinforcements. They were too numerous and Aang disappeared into a small self made cave, blasting out of it in the Avatar State.

The fight should have ended in their favor but it didn't. Aang didn't have time to bend a single element before Azula stroke him with her lighting in the back, making Aang's entirely body seize and the lights of the Avatar State go out before he dropped.

Both Zuko and Katara rushed to catch him but with the assistance of water from the falls in the caverns, Katara made it first. She cradled Aang, looking at Zuko as he approached with a desperate sadness Zuko couldn't and wouldn't accept.

"Aang," Zuko called to the boy, cupping the side of his face as his own voice cracked in a way he knew tears were trying to force their way out of his eyes but he wouldn't accept them. Crying meant that he had given up, that he gave up on Aang and he couldn't do that.

Azula moved in to strike again but Iroh came, somehow freeing himself from the crystal on his own and fended Azula off, telling them to run. Zuko at first refused to leave without his uncle but when Iroh yelled at him to run again, Katara pulling on his arm in a pleading fashion, he looked at Aang and knew he had no choice.

Using the water from the falls, Katara was able to lift the three of them out of the caverns and they were able to meet up with Sokka and Toph on Appa, whom had rescued the Earth King and his weird bear. As they flew away from the city, Momo crawled onto Zuko's shoulders but Zuko could barely acknowledge the lemur, watching Katara take out the vial containing water from the North Pole's spirit oasis to try and heal Aang.

The water contained a miracle and Aang opened his eyes, looking at Katara briefly before falling asleep, his chest moving with each breathe. It allowed Zuko to breathe again as well and look back at the fallen city, hoping his uncle would be alright.

Time moved quickly for a while, yet dragged as Aang remained asleep but they met up with Sokka and Katara's father, along with others and continued to plan for the invasion. Zuko was left alone for the most part, only asked occasional questions about the palace, and he spent most of that free time sitting at Aang's bedside. He watched Aang sleep, only his continued breath and his hair growing out showed that he was truly still alive.

When Aang did awaken he panicked at being on a Fire Nation ship, Zuko assuring him that he was safe before the boy collapsed in his arms. Zuko called for the others so they were there when Aang awakened again and they explained what had happened, how they came to be there and what the plan was.

To say the least, Aang didn't like that the world thought he was dead. Still Zuko never expected him to fly off and try to take down the Fire Nation on his own in his weakened state. Not to mention angry at himself that he had slept through Aang sneaking out when he had been right next to the bed; Sokka never would have stopped teasing him if he had laid down next to Aang and Katara may have killed if Zuko even thought of it.

When they found Aang, thankfully not hurt any further, on the beach they agreed to travel through the Fire Nation together in disguise. It was odd being back in Fire Nation clothing but Zuko made sure to have a hood to hide his scar, not wanting to be the one that gave the group away. It was almost like traveling through the Earth Kingdom again, only now they were missing a member and Zuko tried not to worry about his uncle constantly now that his worry for Aang had eased off a little with him awake and moving around.

During the day Aang tried to be the lively energetic boy Zuko had come to know after they first left the Southern Air Temple, trying to liven the spirits of Fire Nation school kids with a secret dance party and the like, but Zuko could tell at night Aang was still unsure of himself. Sometimes Aang would wake up from nightmares and Zuko was always there if Aang wanted to talk but mostly Zuko just held the younger boy for a while, taking his mind off things after with a firebending lessons before returning to bed.

Zuko had never been a strong firebender, if he had to fight he was better at using double swords, but he at least knew all the moves and could teach Aang as he recalled his tutor and later his uncle's lessons. Once his uncle had said Zuko's weak fire was due to the turmoil inside of him, saying the matter wasn't resolved when Zuko's fire increased a little when his anger started to come out.

Time in the Fire Nation went by quickly as they encountered more people, Zuko learning how his own country due to the war, not only with the repressed lives of the nation's children but such as the polluted village Katara helped with her healing.

They met Zuko's old sword master Piandao and stayed out of the way so Sokka could try to become his student, not only succeeding but getting a sword made out of meteorite. After Sokka revealed his deception and they fought, Piandao revealed that he knew all along and told Zuko to come out of hiding. Really it was like old people had some sort of creepy all-seeing-eye that followed Zuko around or something.

Their travels continued, Aang having a spiritual conversation with Avatar Roku while the others were forced to sit around and wait. Later when Aang revealed that Roku and Sozin had been friends, Zuko felt even more shame at his Nation's and his own family's deeds but that wasn't what Aang took from it. Instead he said that good and bad can come from anywhere, it wasn't limited to a specific nation. He used Zuko, Iroh and Roku as examples of good people from the Fire Nation and Zuko felt a overwhelming desire to hug Aang but held it back, holding his hand instead when the rest of the group started it.

For a while Toph was a con-artist and Katara learned to bloodbend from an old woman, an escaped Southern Tribe prisoner whom had been living in the Fire Nation for years. The old woman, Hama, was particularly violent bloodbending Zuko when she realized he was truly was Fire Nation. He probably would have been killed if Hama knew his true identity and if Katara hadn't stepped in to save them. Still learning such a cruel form of bending, even by force, seemed all the more cruel for someone as kind hearted as Katara.

The invasion quickly approached and Aang started to fall apart from stress, lack of sleep, nightmares and more lack of sleep due to the nightmares. Early attempts to help Aang relax did nothing except for maybe make him more stressed. Eventually the group worked sheering a bunch of the koala sheep to make Aang a big bed to sleep on and that seemed to help.

When they went to leave Aang to sleep, Aang called to Zuko, asking him to come over. Though the request confused Zuko, he crawled onto the giant "cloud" of Aang's bed and went over to him.

"What is it?" Zuko asked.

Silently, Aang pushed Zuko into a laying down position, pulled up Zuko's arm, wrapped it around his own body, before lying down next to Zuko, his own head coming to rest on Zuko's shoulder. The monk was practically snuggling up to him.

"What are you doing," Zuko knew his entire face had gone red, voice in a mortified whisper even though he knew the others were still watching the whole thing.

"You're warm," Aang answered simply as he yawned.

"You're an airbender, can't you airbend your body temperature," Zuko asked in a desperate fashion.

"Not the same thing," Aang's arm came to rest across Zuko's waist, holding him in place, "Good night."

Though Aang had clearly lost his mind in his sleep deprived state, Zuko turned the others, pleadingly, "Guys, help."

Sokka was grinning far too widely, "Sorry Zuko but if Aang wants a living heat pillow, then living heat pillow is what Aang gets. Just try to save the honeymoon for after we defeat Fire Lord Ozai."

Though Toph laughed, Katara's face warned Zuko that if there was a honeymoon there would be a funeral shortly after.

The others left him trapped with the Avatar to go to their own beds and Zuko wondered if he'd be the sleep deprived one after tonight. Eventually though Aang's own warmth seeped into Zuko and he drifted off at some point.

When morning came no one said a world about the whole snuggling and sleeping next to each other incident. Aang shaved his head, their forces arrived and everyone prepared for battle. That is everyone besides Zuko.

While the others would be fighting to get to Ozai, once they were on the palace grounds Zuko would be splitting up from them to try and find Iroh. He made the others promise to leave him behind if they had to; he would find his own way out and meet up with them at the Western Air Temple.

In his search for his uncle, Zuko found his father. It had been confrontational to say the least and Zuko was relieved that his weak firebending still allowed him to redirect lightning as Iroh had taught him. He couldn't stay to fight further though, or even alert Aang that his father wasn't where he was suppose to be. He ran to try to find his uncle but found the cells lacking in their containment of the prisoner he was looking for.

Instead he found a note telling him that Zuko didn't just have Sozin in his bloodline, that Roku was also his great grandfather on his mother's side. Iroh assured him that the path he had chosen had made him proud and that they would meet again when the timing was right.

Zuko wished there was more to the letter; that he had been able to find his uncle and ask him so many things but instead he ran. There was no longer a way to meet up with the others and Appa but Zuko had been able to find and steal a war balloon while the soldiers were busy elsewhere.

Needless to say the invasion had failed and now they were at the Western Air Temple with no plan on what to do next and the comet wasn't too far into the future.

A knock brought Zuko out of his thoughts and he sat up as Aang came into his room and sat beside him.

"You missed dinner," Aang offered Zuko a bowl of some sort of soup.

"Not hungry," Zuko looked away again.

"What's wrong?" Aang's voice called to him.

"I'm sorry," Zuko hadn't meant to say it but the moment he had he couldn't stop. "I'm sorry I dragged you out into this mess. I'm sorry you had to leave your home and fight this war before the age you should have been told you were the Avatar. I'm sorry practically held you prisoner in the Fire Nation and forced you to become betrothed to me. I'm sorry I haven't been able to do a thing to help you during this whole mess. I can't even properly teach you firebending because my fire is so weak. I should have just let myself get captured in the Fire Nation so I wouldn't be in the way."

There was silence and then Aang's touched Zuko's arm, pulling on it until Zuko looked at him.

"Yes, you may have started this but it needed to be started," Aang's voice was soft but serious as he looked into Zuko's eyes. "You had different intentions at the beginning but I needed to come out into the world, into this war. If you hadn't suggested the Avatar for the betrothal I'd still be at the temple and there would be no more moon spirit, the Northern Water Tribe would have fallen and who knows what else? And I'd be just as much at risk at the temple when the comet came then as I am now so there is no need for you to be sorry."

The monk frowned a little, "Except for wishing you had been captured; that you better be sorry for. I would be going back there to find you if you hadn't met us here because you have helped me; you've been here supporting me when you could have turned your back on everything and returned home at any time."

"So you forgive me," Zuko asked softly, unable to believe it.

"You're my friend Zuko," Aang hugged Zuko, holding him close. "I forgave you a long time ago."


	6. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shortest one of the bunch but basically a wrap up of the "Honor" and "Forgiveness" storyline.

If Zuko were to ever see the fortune teller again he would tell her that she was right; he had reached his destiny in an unexpected way. After learning the true power of firebending from the original masters, increasing Zuko's inner flame he had been able to properly teach Aang firebending and together, with the rest of their friends; they had won the war. He was now the Fire Lord and he had his uncle and friends to make sure he stayed true to his world to change the Fire Nation and make it, and the world, a better place.

Given her profession Zuko imagined that the fortune teller already knew she had been right. Still he wished he could see her again and ask her a question that he hadn't thought of at the time:

What was his relationship with Aang suppose to be now? Now that the war was over and their betrothal long gone, what were they now?

At minimum Zuko was still Aang's firebending teacher; the young monk currently staying at the palace to continue his lessons. A step above that they were friends, at least Aang called them friends once and Zuko hoped that was still true.

Was it completely horrible for Zuko to want more?

At times Zuko couldn't help but remember that night on the wool they slept beside each other, the young monk fitting perfectly in his arms, the heat of their bodies swirling together to make a cocoon of comfort and peace Zuko hadn't realized existed and still hadn't been able to achieve again outside of brief hugs Aang would occasionally gift him.

Still Aang was too young, savior of the world or not, for Zuko to be having these thoughts. He ought to be keeping his distance to make these desires go away, not allowing Aang free range over him just to have him close.

Like now Zuko was sitting in his new Fire Lord throne, having changed it as the intimidating flames at his feet was not the kind of Fire Lord he wanted to be. And Aang was sitting on the throne with him, or more specifically on the armrest, legs draped above Zuko's lap to rest on the other armrest as the young monk read over Zuko's shoulder, hand resting there to keep balance as Aang leaned in to make out the words and making comments that made Zuko forget he was suppose to be working.

It would be easy to drop the scroll and wrap an arm around Aang's waist to pull him into Zuko's lap, to hold him and kiss him. In fact, Zuko didn't even have to drop the scroll to do this. Part of him thought Aang would even move onto his lap if he made the excuse Aang would be more comfortable that way but that was far too much temptation.

Zuko was, however, saved from his thoughts when Sokka came into the room. He watched as the Water Tribe boy paused, looked at them and how they were sitting before shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. Really Sokka shouldn't be surprised anymore; ever since the failed invasion, during the solar eclipse, Aang taken to practically sitting on Zuko's lap on many occasions.

"Hey Zuko," Sokka turned his attention to the young Fire Lord, "I was talking to that official guy that betrothed you two and he says you're still betrothed."

"What," Zuko asked, very aware that Aang had leaned against him a bit more when Sokka started talking. "But didn't they call it off when I, well, defected?"

Sokka shook his head, "He said they wanted to keep the Air Nomads from finding out so they could sneak attack them during the comet and they figured one or both of you would die so doing the annulment paperwork didn't much matter to them."

There was a moment of hesitation before Zuko asked, "But it could still be annulled?"

This time Sokka gave Zuko a dead pan, and all so familiar, 'are you kidding' look as he suggested toward them.

"If you two actually wanted to then yeah."

Suddenly Aang was sitting in Zuko's lap, the hand that had been on Zuko's shoulder sliding over to the other shoulder so his arm was wrapped around him.

"Nope," Aang grinned at Sokka before beaming up at Zuko, "I wouldn't change a thing."

Zuko stared at Aang, unsure when it was he fell asleep but he was obviously dreaming.

Though Aang was still smiling, he rolled his eyes as he cupped Zuko's face, "You really can be dense sometimes."

There was no desire to protest or argue though on Zuko's part, especially when Aang leaned in and kissed him. Zuko barely acknowledged Sokka saying something about "oogies" before the Water Tribe boy left the room which Zuko didn't mind either. It just gave Zuko more time to kiss Aang as much as he wanted and he wanted to kiss Aang a lot.


	7. Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continued from "Daybreak" and "Skin".
> 
> I wrote the stories in order of the themes and Honor was the hardest to think of a story for and Forgiveness took the longest to write. I don't understand why Hope is being so difficult... Here's hoping I can get it done before the celebration is over...

Fall was starting to get colder, easing its way into winter too soon for Zuko's tastes. Winter meant snow and ice and that Aang would have to either stop his runs for the season or move them someplace warmer, and less likely for him to slip and fall, like the YMCA. Moving the runs meant no more passing the tea shop on Saturday mornings and when Aang paused to have tea with him, it was really the only one on one time Zuko got with the boy.

The change might be good for Zuko though. Since he had become Aang's friend he had started to like Aang a little too much, finding himself staring at Aang and often his lips when he talked or laughed and especially when he sang. At night he couldn't sleep without remembering Aang's smile, imagining touching those lips, imagining holding him and, shamefully, imagining Aand there in bed with him. Everything about Aang just brought so much light into Zuko's life and he shouldn't really be thinking of Aang that way after all of Aang's kindness toward him; it felt like a betrayal.

Snow drifting outside the window when Zuko woke up seemed to agree with him that he and Aang should be kept apart for a while. The weather turning from flurries to a storm in the short amount of time it took Zuko to get dressed and go downstairs to the tea shop only seemed to further guarantee that he would not see Aang that day.

Instead of sweeping the entrance, Zuko would be shoveling and salting the sidewalk to make sure none of their patrons fell and Zuko was confident the usuals were already on their way in spite of the weather. He was nearly finished when he heard crunching of the snow behind him and figured it was an early customer.

However it was Aang behind him, headset looking frozen to his head over his beanie as Aang shook and smiled at him. The boy had left his house in a simple jogging outfit, made to keep him cool, not warm, which was soaking wet and clinging to him from the snow.

"You idiot," Zuko shouted without thinking, dropped the shovel and took off his jacket, wrapping it around Aang and using it as means to pull Aang into the tea shop.

"I-it wasn't snowing yet when I left," Aang's voice shook along his body, Zuko swearing his lips looked blue.

"That's what the weather channel is for," Zuko scolded, pulling Aang the rest of the way inside.

"Those guys wouldn't know weather, unless they looked outside a window," Jet commented, frowning as he looked Aang over.

"Hi Jet," Aang greeted friendlily; despite his chattering teeth.

"Hey," Jet mumbled before turning to Zuko. "Take him to your apartment and warm him up, I'll finish the shoveling."

The offer surprised Zuko but he wasn't about to argue. He thanked Jet and dragged Aang to the upstairs apartment, pulling his jacket off Aang once they were in the entryway and told him to strip out of the wet clothes, barely able to keep himself from stammering.

To distract himself Zuko rushed to get blankets, turning on the little electric heater that looked like a real fireplace and started a kettle for some something hot to drink. He tried not to think of how this would be a romantic date under different circumstances.

When Zuko returned Aang was just in his underwear and beanie, arms wrapped around himself as he continued to shiver. It took all of Zuko's willpower to not stand there and stare, to drink in Aang's lithe body and touch it, to instead wrap a blanket around him and rub over his shoulders.

"I have some old pajama bottoms that may fit you if you tie the string real tight," Zuko continued to rub over Aang's arms, wishing he could heat his hands to help him warm up quicker. "You can change into them in my room so you can get out of your wet underwear." He paused and managed to look at Aang's face, "You'll have to take off the beanie too."

For a moment Aang hesitated and Zuko could guess as to why. For as long as Zuko had known of Aang, he had never seen him without the beanie. The boy probably didn't like being reminded of when he was sick due to his lack of hair.

"Don't tell anyone," Aang suddenly said, not looking at Zuko as he reached up. Before Zuko could ask what he meant, Aang pulled off the beanie, revealing that he had short, dark, shaggy hair underneath it.

Unable to stop himself, Zuko reached up and ran his hand through Aang's hair, marveling at the softness and that it existed.

"Why wouldn't you tell anyone about this?" Zuko asked softly.

With a shrug, Aang looked down, "I don't want to get their hopes up again."

It was a cruel reminder that Aang had to fight cancer not once but twice. He had probably grown hair in his first remission too.

"Well," Zuko said slowly, unsure of what to say, "It looks good on you and I'm sure the others would agree."

Though Aang nodded in acknowledgement he didn't respond verbally. He allowed Zuko to direct him to Zuko's bedroom so he could change.

While he waited, Zuko hung Aang's clothes to dry in the bathroom and called down to the tea shop to tell his uncle what was going on in case Jet hadn't. Thankfully Iroh said he'd call Aang's grandfather to let him know Aang would be staying with them at least until the storm passed because Zuko had no idea what Aang's home phone number was.

By the time Zuko finished, Aang returned from Zuko's bedroom now wearing the red pajama bottoms which hung over his feet a little but at least fit decently with the pull string tied at the right size. Zuko directed Aang to sit on the other blankets near the electric fireplace as he poured them both some hot chocolate. Zuko imagined Iroh would have preferred Zuko serve their guest tea but Zuko never became a master brewer like his uncle and didn't want to risk poisoning his friend.

First Zuko gave Aang his mug before going to change back into his pajamas so he could sit on the floor comfortably with Aang. He then grabbed his mug, another blanket and joined Aang on the floor, wrapping his blanket around himself and Aang.

Sharing body heat was Zuko's excuse for wrapping the blanket around the two of them but Aang didn't ask. Instead Aang just scooted closer to Zuko and leaned against him a bit, just the right height difference between them that Aand could rest his head on Zuko's shoulder comfortably.

Keeping his mug on his lap within his hands, Zuko felt too nervous to drink it, too nervous to move and disturb the other boy or, worse, cause him to move away. This was turning into a scenario from those romance novels Ty Lee always gushed about. If they were in a cabin in the woods all that needed to happen was for the power to go out and they'd have to _share body heat_ to survive. Though if that happened here nothing could happen before Zuko's uncle rushed up to check on them. Actually he was surprised Iroh hadn't came up to bring them tea or something yet.

Feeling paranoid, Zuko strained his ears to see if he could hear his uncle coming up the steps when something cold touched his wrist; it only taking a moment for him to realize that the cold thing was the icicles called Aang's fingers.

"Hey, are you alright," Aang's head did not move from Zuko's shoulder as he peered up at the older boy, "You got really quiet."

"I'm not the one that nearly became a snowman," Zuko set down his hot chocolate and took Aang's hands into his own to try and warm them up that way. "How are you feeling, any warmer yet; I sort of feel like I should check you for frost bite or something."

Aang chuckled softly, his breath tickling against Zuko's neck, "You just want to see me practically naked again."

"No I don't," Zuko protested too quickly, sure he would burn Aang with how much his skin heated up at the jest.

Instead of pulling away, Aang laughed again and moved closer, pulling his hands free from Zuko's in order to casually wrap his arms around Zuko's waist, his head now coming to rest in the crook of Zuko's neck.

"Whatever you say hotman," Aang murmured, not caring that he was shirtless, just wearing Zuko's pajama's as he practically snuggled against Zuko's side as the boy was just in pajamas himself.

"Don't call me hotman," Zuko grumbled, secretly pleased to note that Aang's skin no longer felt cold and no longer looked remotely pale nor too red.

Absently stroking over Aang's arm that was in front of him, Zuko tried to remember the signs of hypothermia that he learned in first aide. Aang had never showed signs of weakness or loss of coordination, nor did he show any signs of having problems thinking. The shivering had mostly stopped once Aang had dried off and gotten into dry clothes and was gone by the time Zuko came to sit beside him. Aang's breathing never seemed to have slowed and his heart beat felt normal with Aang pressed so close to Zuko. And he had given Aang a sweet, warm beverage, which Aang had drank most of while Zuko had been changing, which was part of first aide for hypothermia to warm a person up while waiting for medical assistance. The main sign Aang seemed to be exhibiting was drowsiness but it was still early on a Saturday and he had just warmed up from being cold and had a hot drink, things that could make people sleepy under normal circumstances.

Luckily given all this, hypothermia seemed unlikely. Still there was the possibility of frostbite to consider. Hands, feet, nose and ears were the places most likely to be affected by frostbite and Zuko had felt Aang's hands and Aang had seemed to feel the touch just fine and there hadn't been any blisters.

Reaching up, Zuko felt Aang's ears and cheek, hand resting there as he smiled; relieved that they felt warm and normal under his touch. Aang's nose looked a little red but had not said anything about pain as he thawed.

"How do you feel," Zuko asked softly, letting his hand drift off Aang's cheek and down his neck, glad to feel him radiating warmth there, "Any pins and needles or numbness?"

"No," Aang yawned, "I'm pretty comfortable actually."

"Good," Zuko mentally told his hand to let go of Aang but his hand seemed perfectly content to cradle the back of Aang's neck. "You don't seem to have frostbite or hypothermia but I'm not sure how good of an idea it is for you to sleep just yet."

"You can't be this warm and comfortable and expect me to stay awake," Aang said so seriously in his half asleep state, Zuko nearly laughed at how cute it was.

"I could move," Zuko threatened. It was an empty threat but he was curious as to what Aang would do about it.

"No," Aang whined, his arms tightening around Zuko, "not allowed."

Zuko did chuckle then, his free arm coming up to wrap around Aang's waist as his thumb absently stroked just below Aang's jaw. If sleepy Aang made him cuddle up to Zuko like this, he wasn't about to complain.

"Alright, I'm not moving," Zuko promised, smiling when Aang's hold around him loosened but remained close to him.

"Hey Zuko," Aang asked after a bit of silence, Zuko having thought he had drifted off, "do you live here?"

"Yeah, with my uncle," Zuko explained.

"What about your sister?" Aang asked.

"She lives with our father," Zuko answered.

"Why don't you?" Aang hesitated to ask, his voice soft now.

At first Zuko didn't want to answer. He kept his family life as private as possible; no one at school would have even known Azula was his sister, even with the same last name, if she hadn't made a big deal about it on her first day against his wishes. Still Aang had shared so much about himself, his past, his own family history and his battle with cancer; it would be unfair for Zuko to not answer his question.

"My father and I don't get along, we never have. It got worse after my parents got divorced and my father got full custody of both of us to spite her. He even has a restraining order on her seeing us while we're underage, claiming she's a bad influence," Zuko was surprised how calmly he was explaining this.

Usually discussing his parents and his mother's expulsion from his life had him seething the moment it was brought up. The only explanation he could think of that was keeping his anger at bay was the warmth of the dear person practically wrapped around him more securely than the blankets that contained and shared the heat of their bodies.

"He's the owner of an empire in the fuel industry, he knows how to manipulate the law and how to get away with things," Zuko thought of his scar, how the police practically strong armed him into saying it was an accident of his own making the night his uncle took him to the ER. He had been so terrified at the time at being banished from his home, as confining and as petrifying as it was that he would have been willing to say anything to keep his father's anger from coming down on him again. He had never been able to press charges or face his father since, living in the haven of his uncle's home that he had often escaped to before that feared night had happened but being casted out did not make the suddenly full time arrangement any easier to handle.

There had been and still were rumors about how Zuko got his scar. He never confirmed or denied anything, ignoring anyone who tried to bring it up with him. He had been so relieved when Aang and the others never asked about the scar but he was sure they all wondered about it.

"Do you like living here?" Aang suddenly asked, brining Zuko out of his thoughts.

"At first I had been resentful," Zuko admitted, "But yeah, now I do."

"I'm glad," Aang's arms tightened around Zuko briefly in what seemed to have been a hug. "If you hadn't lived here and worked at the tea shop, we may have never started talking and become friends."

 _There's that silver lining uncle is always talking about_ , Zuko smiled to himself. Even though he had been longing for more than Aang's friendship he couldn't argue that right now he couldn't remember feeling happier than to have been there for Aang when he needed help and to have him here in his arms.

"Yeah," Zuko mumbled, "I'm glad for that too."

When Aang didn't respond, Zuko realized that Aang had drifted off. He considered just staying there and letting him sleep, allowing Zuko to hold him for longer but knew Aang would wake up sore if he stayed in this position.

Eventually Zuko gathered up the will power to pull back enough to lift Aang up and carry him to his bedroom, able to tuck the younger boy into his bed without waking him up. Again he had been tempted to crawl into bed beside him, under the excuse of continuing to keep him warm, but settled for sneaking a whispered kiss onto his forehead.


	8. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little late but this one was the hardest to write.
> 
> End of the storyline from "Daybreak", "Skin" and "Heat".

After Aang awoke, Zuko gave him a shirt to wear since the boy didn't need to hold a blanket around him anymore to stay warm. The shirt was far too big on Aang and Zuko forced himself to laugh rather than let his mind stray that it looked like Aang was wearing a "boyfriend shirt". When Aang blushed and lightly hit Zuko's arm for laughing, Zuko laughed for real in reaction to the action.

The thoughts could not be held back by laughter though. Zuko liked seeing Aang in his clothes, too big for him and looking, very accurately, that he had just crawled out of bed. It reminded Zuko yet again how cute Aang was and lead his mind to think of things not so cute, like taking his clothes off of Aang, especially when he remembered that Aang wasn't wearing anything under the pajamas that would simply fall off if Zuko untied the string.

Hope was something Zuko always tried to deny, tried to force out of his mind out of guilt of his feelings and disbelief anything would ever come from them. Yet hope kept fluttering up in him as he got to spend the whole day alone with Aang; starting with her blanketed embrace and continuing with each touch and smile and laugh that came from Aang.

Part of Zuko's mind was trying to lead him to believe that Aang was even flirting with him. How could he ignore Aang commenting on Zuko wanting to see Aang naked without a hint of disgust or calling him hotman? And even if he ignored those as being from Aang's thawing out state at the time, Aang continued to touch Zuko unnecessarily, joking about the apartment being their private love nest and winking at him in a way Zuko knew Aang was going to drive him mad.

Still this was just the way Aang was, wasn't it? So free spirited and accepting that he wouldn't think anything of their situation and joking about it without second thought or knowing how it affected Zuko.

But what if Aang knew how it was affecting Zuko? What if he knew exactly how Zuko felt about him and this was Aang's way of telling him it was okay? Or making a joke out of it to tell Zuko that he wasn't interested and trying not to hurt his feelings by making light of it?

No, Aang would never joke about someone's feelings like that. If anything it was letting Zuko know that Aang thought Zuko's feelings okay but even with talk of the apartment being their love nest Zuko couldn't be sure Aang returned those feelings or not. At least he couldn't without asking him and Zuko's hope for Aang's affection wasn't strong enough to give him that courage just yet.

When Aang stood to check on his clothes, Aang actually kissed Zuko's cheek. It was an actual kiss on the cheek; not the sound of a joke kiss or an air kiss but an actual kiss on Zuko's actual cheek. As Zuko questioned his place in the universe, Aang headed to the bathroom, so casual about the whole thing Zuko wondered if it was possible the kiss actually meant anything or if Aang was just that friendly after a certain point in his friendships. Then again Zuko couldn't imagine Sokka tolerating Aang doing that to him.

Thinking of Sokka, Zuko made a dash for the phone the moment Aang was out of sight and called Sokka's cell, the only number he actually had memorized because it was so simple. Sooner or later he was going to have to remember to program everyone's numbers into his cell phone or sneak it out of his locker at school during lunch to get them then.

"Zuko, you got to help me," Sokka said the moment he picked up, having must recognized Zuko's number from his caller ID. "Toph got snowed in at our house; I have nowhere to hide."

"That's right," Toph's voice bellowed loud enough for Zuko to hear. "Now bring me some more melon!"

"Come on Melon Lord, I'm on the phone with Zuko," Sokka sounded like Toph must have been treating him like a servant all morning.

"What does Fire Britches want?" Toph sounded closer to the phone now.

"My pants caught on fire one time," Zuko mumbled.

"One time is all it takes buddy," Sokka sounded sympathetic.

"So are you snowed in too," Toph asked.

"Yeah, only I got Aang at my place," Zuko smiled despite himself.

"Trade you," Sokka offered, followed by the sound of pain. Really Sokka ought to have known better.

"How is Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked.

"Well he's the reason I'm calling," Zuko started.

"Did something happen," Sokka interrupted, "Should I get Katara?"

"No, I mean yes, but nothing bad. I mean it could have been bad but it didn't get too bad because he came here and," Zuko stopped himself and took a deep breath. "Does Aang ever kiss you guys?"

There was silence; then Sokka slowly asked, "What?"

Not sure how much time he had left Zuko tried to quickly explain what happened and how Aang was acting toward him since he woke up and ended with the kiss. His heart pounded as silence was his answer again.

"Zuko, you have a problem," Sokka's voice sounded rather creepily serious. He didn't let Zuko panic too long though before he finished, "You're an idiot."

Now it was Zuko's turn to slowly go, "What?"

"Congratulations," Toph laughed, "You're Twinkle Toe's boyfriend."

Immediately Zuko felt his skin heat up and his heart pound again, his hope soaring but crashing against the memory his bad luck streak in life.

"You can't be serious," Zuko stammered as he tried to deny it. "Aang would never go for someone like me."

"Well I can't say I approve on Aang's tastes in men," Sokka sighed, "I always thought he's go for someone smarter."

"I'm not stupid, I'm realistic," Zuko snapped at them.

"Sokka look up 'denial' in the dictionary for me and tell me if Zuko's picture is there, would yeah," Zuko could practically hear Toph's smirk.

"You're no help," Zuko seethed and slammed the phone, glad he used Iroh's land line rather than his cell; ending a call on a cell would just never be as satisfying.

"Who is no help," Aang popped up behind Zuko, nearly making Zuko knock the phone back off the receiver.

"Sokka," Zuko said quickly, unable to look Aang in the eye.

Luckily Aang accepted this easily enough and luckily for Zuko, Aang's clothes were still damp for Aang remained in Zuko's oversized clothes. Zuko couldn't help but think of what Sokka and Toph said and wondered if he could use it as an excuse to return Aang's cheek kiss with one of his own; only on the lips.

Bringing him out of his thoughts Iroh called up the stairs for him, asking him to bring down a box of green tea. They must have had a rush if his uncle was going to dig into his private stash but cold weather did call for cold drinks.

"They're probably shorthanded, I should probably get dressed and help out a bit," Zuko lamented.

"I'll come down with you," Aang grinned.

"You're in pajamas," Zuko felt embarrassed for him, "My pajamas."

"Yeah so," Aang shrugged. "They're clean, in good shape-"

"Practically hanging off of you," Zuko interrupted, blushing. Really, he didn't want anyone else to see Aang like this.

"They're not going to fall off," Aang rolled his eyes. "Besides if you leave me up here, alone, I might get bored. I might start digging through your stuff and I'm sure I could find something embarrassing somewhere. Or I could just steal a pair of your underwear, who knows what crazy things I'll do if left unattended."

Zuko blushed and stared at him while Aang just grinned back. This was definitely a battle of wills and Zuko didn't know if he had the will to battle Aang.

"Fine," Zuko groaned. "Try to behave while I get dressed."

"I could go with you; it would only be fair since you saw me practically naked," Aang wiggled his eyebrows, smiling teasingly at him.

For a moment Zuko could not speak, just blush and stare at Aang and try to ignore Sokka and Toph's voices in his head. His default kicked in and he angrily told Aang to stay put as he stormed off to his room in order to blush more in private for a little bit.

Once Zuko was dressed he grabbed the green tea and headed downstairs with Aang. It was indeed a bit crowded but no one at the counter since most people were there in groups so it was free for Aang to sit there while he waited for Zuko to be finished. As Zuko went to help, he overheard Jet compliment Aang on his "boyfriend shirt" look and Aang chuckled in return and thanked him, making Zuko grateful he wasn't holding any hot tea yet to pour on himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming this.

By the time Zuko got to return to the counter, some time had passed and Aang suddenly had company there; a girl about Aang's age if not a little younger. She had long brown hair in two thick braids, watching Aang as he talked with such a smile on her face that Zuko couldn't decide if he wanted to throw her out or avoid the counter until she was gone.

Spotting him, Aang waved Zuko over, leaving him no choice but to join them.

"Hey Zuko," Aang smiled at him before suggesting to the girl beside him, "This is Meng, she works at the Fortune Teller's place that Katara likes to go to."

"You mean where Katara could earn frequent flyer miles," Meng joked making Aang laugh and Zuko's heart sink.

"Meng, this is Zuko, my boyfriend," Aang smiled; confused at the stares he was now getting from both of them.

"He's your boyfriend," Meng asked at the same Zuko asked, "I am?"

Aang looked at Meng, then turned to Zuko, "I thought," he hesitated, "I mean after," Aang looked at the ground, unable to continue.

Zuko barely glanced at Meng, whom was staring questioningly at him, before turning to shout to Iroh, "Uncle, I got to go," but Zuko barley heard Iroh thank him for helping out as he grabbed Aang's hand and pulled him back upstairs.

Part of him told him he should sit Aang down and they should talk about this calmly but that part of his brain wasn't on fire like the rest of his thoughts. As soon as the apartment door closed behind him, Zuko pressed Aang against the door and hovered over him with his own body so he couldn't get away. Even with the burning he couldn't help but enjoy the way Aang was not the one blushing.

"Why do you think we're dating?" Zuko asked softly, much softer then he thought he was able to, much different than the way he imagined bringing Aang up here to kiss him and take his place as Aang's boyfriend without giving him a chance to change his mind.

Aang squirmed a little, still blushing as he spoke, "You kissed me."

"I thought you were asleep," Zuko admitted.

"I woke up a little when you picked me up," Aang admitted in return. "I was just so warm and comfortable I didn't want to wake up the rest of the way so I tried to stay asleep."

"My kissing you doesn't mean we're dating," Zuko wished he would stop digging his own hole but he had to be sure. "That just means, well, it means I like you." Zuko knew he was blushing as well now but he had to continue. "Dating is sort of a two way thing."

Aang looked up at Zuko, then reached up and grabbed Zuko's face, pulling him down before Zuko could question it and kissed him.

The kiss was warm but brief and Zuko could feel Aang's breath against his lips as he spoke, "That means I like you, hotman."

"Don't call me that," Zuko murmured, leaning in to kiss Aang again.


End file.
